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Airbnb files for IPO following successful quarter

The travel/rental company is looking to enter the public market.

Donovan Erskine

November 16, 2020 3:30 PM

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Airbnb has been a prominent name in the travel world for some time now. Allowing users to book rentals and special experiences through its website or mobile app. Last quarter, Airbnb turned a profit of over $200 million, a great accomplishment for the company despite operating in the midst of a global pandemic, which severely hurt the travel industry. Now, Airbnb is looking to go public as the company has filed for IPO. 

Airbnb officially filed to go public on Monday, November 16, 2020. If they do indeed go public, Airbnb will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ABNB. In making its case in the prospectus summary, Airbnb describes how its business model facilitates word of mouth and repeat users. 

“Our guests are not transactions -- they are engaged, contributing members of our community, once they become a part of Airbnb, guests actively participate in our community, return regularly to our platform to book again, and recommend Airbnb to others who then join themselves. This demand encourages new hosts to join, which in turn attracts even more guests. It is a virtuous cycle -- guests attract hosts, and hosts attract guests.”

Airbnb has seen an increase in losses and a drop in revenue when comparing 2020 profits to 2019, which can be directly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Airbnb refers to this when listing the risk factors in their filing. “The Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of actions to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic have materially adversely impacted and will continue to materially adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition.”

It will be interesting to see how Airbnb performs on the public market, as well as how the company will operate in the coming months, as the pandemic is showing no sign of slowing down in the United States. Count on Shacknews for the latest stories in business and technology.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_